"Goodbye" video for the "400 jumps mod"

melolo

"Goodbye" video captured from the GTA SA mod "Welcome to San Andreas: The 400 jumps mod" (CANCELLED, reasons at the end of description)

(NOTE: The video was put together one year ago for applying (unsuccessfully) to an open position as "Gameplay Capture Artist" in Rockstar which asked you to show your visual aesthetics, and I captured it using the mod. That's the reason why the video is not strictly focused on showcasing the mod new stuff, but just using it as backdrop. The chasing helicopters are not in the mod, they were put in just for coolness while capturing action).

This mod was started in 2008. It was focused on (but not limited to) adding new Unique Stunts, the slow-mo jumps, to the game (400 new jumps was the goal), that would allow for a better exploration and enjoyment of the incredible game's world; jumps that "described" areas visually, trying to catch the vibe of each place (a feeling that i missed in most of the game's original jumps); or, sometimes, jumps that would simply allow for an exhilarating finish to a long speed run, or just jumps you always wished were there (Don't you always wanted to slow-mo jump through the giant donut? or from the top of the Library Tower? or along the hilly streets of Chinatown in San Fierro?

Along with the jumps came a lot of other modifications to the game, always "old savegame friendly", and always trying to keep San Andreas look "un-modded" (no swimming pools in CJ's home in Ganton, or Families driving tanks), but at the same time, upgraded (better detailing in key places, better overall feel of a "living" world). Here are some of them (all work in progress):

-Hundreds of new ENEX ("enter-exit", the floating yellow cones that allow you to enter places or reach building rooftops), giving access to top of lots of skyscrapers, with jumps there, lots of known interiors (restaurants, shops, etc), scattered through the game's world in places that make sense, and several unused interiors (Donut restaurant, big and small diners, Welcome Pump truck stop, girlfriends' places, Woozie's betting shop and appartment...)

-Tweaked interiors, with complete furnishing of the "empty" unused interiors (diners...), and new details in known interiors, including the ability to eat and regain energy in all your savehouses, ambience music in all restaurants, some pickable objects, etc. Specially interiors with a mission in them (Jefferson motel, Big Smoke crack palace, docks' warehouse...)

-Lots of unused animations, and new animation groups using that ones, that allow for different ways of walking and running for peds, and not everyone walking the same way like robots.

-Some "new" vehicles, like the Sprunk truck, the savanna taxi and faggio taxi, and the "corporate" Four Dragons Casino car, a "themed paintjob" slamvan that accepts other chinesse related paintjobs in transfender.

-Some texture fixings, like the ugly "car grunge" every car has, leaving some for the poor cars, but cleaning most for the rich ones.

-New places to play basketball, with panoramical views that inmerse you in the given area, some with ambience music even if they are exterior; several exterior pool tables that allow for a relaxing game with panoramical surroundings.

-Detailing of the world's map, adding stuff to back alleys, key places and corners, etc; special attention to put lamps, posts, etc, in places where there is at night a "ghost" lighting that comes from nowhere. When you put a lamp sticking out of a warehouse front that is lighted during night, suddenly its look upgrades a huge leap.

-Propper physics for some unused objects that are fun to have back in the game, like the beach ball, or the red cylinder road barrier.

-Many other little tweaks, too long to list.

REASONS FOR CANCELLATION: Back in 2008, I planned a small "preview" release for that summer, then several releases by areas (Los Santos, farmland countryside, San Fierro...) From the very beggining it became, like any mod, a big time-consuming project, but at the same time a great source of personal satisfaction and amusement with the progress. Then, the whole economy went to s**t, and i was one of the millions of "kicked-outs" of the middle class safe bubble. Through years of under-under-paid temp jobs and jobless times, my old PC kept failing for this or that. With no money for fixing, it was a constant "4 months keeping on with the mod-2 months stopped-then try to retake it", while at the same time struggling to keep or find crappy jobs, moving again and again, and with life pretty much collapsing around. Then, the loss of mother and brothers.

Still, in the middle of this years of wrekage, I think the small time I could devote at nights to, sttubornly, keep on with the mod, was somehow a strange help to keep my sanity. The release of GTA IV made all my efforts look ridiculous, but I still thought the world of San Andreas (whole state, 3 cities, countryside, desert...) kept something that GTA IV lacked (anyway I was never able to play any Rockstar game after SA, my PC was barely able to run SA). So i kept going.

But when the trailer for GTA V came... it was San Andreas again; but with GTA IV quality and more. That was the final blow to this mod. Still, some months later, i tried to keep on a little more, cut edges, fix known bugs and release whatever I had, just kind of a "homage" to my years of work. Then, my old, old, cheap rig finally broke down. And that was it. Out of PC, out of money, out of job and out of time, it was the end.

Now, a year later, i though it would be nice to my "past myself" to, at least, upload a video with some of the stuff, instead of letting it just slide out of the edge of the world.

Even with the mod cancelled, I still want to thank DeeZire for the inspiration to start moding SA (he is the author of the INCREDIBLE mod "Things To Do In San Andreas"), OrionSR and Aftburner from the GTAForums for their teaching and patience with noobs, and Rockstar for creating this world. Through hard, spirit-breaking times, you made my life better.